Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Back in the 1990s, he was known as the "Seven-Second Bandit."
He'd walk into a bank with a package, police said, then hand a note to the teller saying he'd detonate a bomb in seven seconds if he didn't get money.
Since then, he's gone to federal prison, lost his mother to lung cancer, then developed colon cancer and pleaded for an early release.
Jack Mannino has been out of the federal prison system since July, and despite getting a $225,000 settlement in a malpractice lawsuit, he's wanted again -- in connection with a bank robbery.
The FBI is asking the public's help in locating Mannino, 43, a one-time Gambino crime family associate whose address, authorities say, is listed as Monticello Terrace in Great Kills.
The robbery in question happened on Dec. 29, at the Capital One Bank at 7120 New Utrecht Ave. in Brooklyn, according to a press statement from the FBI's New York Field Office.
Two men walked in at about 6 p.m., brandishing a weapon, the FBI said. They "took the bank over by force," according to the bulletin, with one of the men jumping over a counter and filling a bag with money.
The men then fled down 17th Avenue.
The FBI has since identified one of the two suspects as Mannino, according to FBI spokesman James Margolin.
Back in the 1990s, authorities linked Mannino to 23 bank robberies -- three on Staten Island, the rest in Brooklyn and Queens. No explosives were ever detonated, and no one was ever reported injured.
In all, Mannino's take exceeded $43,000 before his capture in December 1999, authorities said.
He was convicted in the case and sentenced to roughly 12 and a half years in federal prison. In a handwritten June 2008 letter to his sentencing judge, he discussed his mother's 2005 death -- he wasn't allowed to attend her funeral -- and laid bare his medical record in a bid for early release.
Mannino said he had been complaining about blood in his stool since his initial arrest in 1999, but had to wait seven years until getting a colonoscopy, which revealed a large tumor. Following surgery, he suffered from incontinence, requiring an adult diaper, and can no longer have children.
Mannino sued the federal government over its handling of his cancer diagnosis, and ended up getting $225,000 in a July 2010 settlement agreement.
"I was going to write about my efforts on post-conviction rehabilitation; but that pales in comparison to what I've been going through these past few years," he wrote in the June 2008 letter. "Life I've come to realize is far too short, and far too precious to squander away in prison."
As a master electrician, he wrote, "I would have no problem obtaining employment if I was released today."
Though it appears that the judge didn't grant his request, he was eventually sent to a halfway house, then released last July.
The FBI describes Mannino as white, 5 feet 9 inches tall, and between 170 and 180 pounds. He was last seen wearing black wind pants, a gray hooded sweatshirt, and a dark leather jacket, according to the FBI.
The second suspect in the Dec. 29 robbery is described in the FBI statement as a white male in his 40s, about 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighing 220 pounds, who is balding and wears glasses. He was last seen wearing blue jeans, a black hooded sweatshirt, and a green or beige jacket.
The FBI is offering a "significant reward... for a tip that breaks the case." Tipsters, who can remain anonymous, are asked to call 212-384-1000.